Category: Conferences

On Nov. 22-24 the Arn. Chikobava Institute of Linguistics, TSU and the Georgian Academy of Sciences organized the V International Symposium of Linguists-Caucasologists, in memory of the 120 years anniversary of Academician Arnold Chikobava.

Prof. Karina Vamling, Malmö University, participated in the conference with the paper “On postpositions in Circassian in a typological perspective”. In 1998, she was awarded the Arnold Chikobava prize of the Georgian Academy of Sciences.

The memorial conference “Caucasian Philology – Perspectives and History” was organised in Nalchik on October 19 on the occasion of Prof. M.A. Kumakhov’s 90th birthday. So many former colleagues and friends gathered at the meeting organized by the Institute of Studies in the Humanities at the Research Center of Kabardino-Balkaria, Russian Academy of Sciences. Prof. Kumakhov was originally from Nalchik but worked most of his professional career at the Institute of Linguistics at the Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and was an associate of the Institute in Nalchik and supervisor of many members of its staff.

The conference was attended by many presenters from Kabardino-Balkaria but also Adygeya, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Abkhazia and others. The conference was opened by Director Kasbolat Dzamikhov and Prof Boris Bizhoev. Prof. Karina Vamling, Malmö University, who had a close and fruitful collaboration with Prof. Kumakhov during many years, gave the prenary presentation О зарубежной научной деятельности профессора Мухадина А. Кумахова (Professor M.A. Kumakhov’s academic visits and work abroad).

On September 26-29 the Georgian Academy of Sciences organized the II International Kartvelological Congress, celebrating ‘100 years of Tbilisi State University’, with sections on language, history, archeology, literature, art etc. It was opened by the President of the Academy, Prof. Giorgi Kvesitadze.

Prof. Karina Vamling, Malmö University, gave the plenary presentation: ‘A Swedish travelogue from a journey to Georgia in 1920’ about the book Min dotters bröllopsresa till Kaukasien (My daughter’s wedding trip to the Caucasus, in Swedish) by Hugo Wachtmeister.

Two presentations that could be mentioned from the Linguistics’ session were given by Prof. Alice C. Harris (Massachusetts, USA): ‘Why Linguists Love the Georgian Language’ and Dr Alessandro Maria Bruni ( Venice, Italy): The Old Georgian tradition of the book of Esther and its value for the criticism of the Bible’.

On November 1-3 students from Malmö University, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and Flinders University (Adelaide, Australia) conducted an online and campus seminar, broadcasted from Tbilisi State University. This was a collaborative event for students from Caucasus Studies and Communication for development (Malmö University), Development studies (Flinders University) together with MA students from the Faculty of Social and Political Studies at Tbilisi State University. Ten Malmö students participated in the seminar in Tbilisi together with Georgian students and other students participated online, including all Australian students. From the Swedish side several members of staff came to Tbilisi for the seminar: Oscar Hemer, Karina Vamling, Hugo Boothby, Tobias Denskus, Katrine Gotfredsen, Mikael Rundberg, Anders Høg Hansen. The group was accompanied by Dean of the Faculty of Culture and Society, Rebecka Lettevall (Malmö University), and visual storyteller Conor Ashleigh.

The thematic focus of the three day seminar was Georgia’s separatist conflicts, and in particular the South Ossetian/Tskhinvali conflict, and the challenges the internally displaced persons (IDPs) are facing. The seminar included academic lectures and presentations from representatives of NGOs and other organisations, such as European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) and Civil Forum. In addition to the seminar students and staff visited an IDP settlement outside Gori close to the conflict zone.

A memorial conference celebrating the 130 anniversary of Prof. Akaki Shanidze, one of the most prominent specialists on the Georgian language, was organized at Tbilisi State University on February 27-28. link

A joint paper by Maka Tetradze – former visiting PhD candidate to Malmö University – and Karina Vamling was included in the program and book of abstracts: https://www.tsu.ge/data/image_db_innova/shanidze.programa.Tezisebi.pdfჰანს ფოგტის ქართველოლოგიურიკვლევის დასაწყისი და აკაკი შანიძე (p. 12). The topic of the paper is Hans Vogt’s early kartvelological studies and Akaki Shanidze.

In this paper, I explore official attempts at re-signifying Stalin in his birth-town Gori in order to tally with post Rose Revolution political visions and re-assessments of the (national) past. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2010 and 2011, and drawing on the case of the removal of the Stalin Monument and an effort to reframe the town’s Stalin Museum, I flesh out some of the local responses and attitudes to this effort, and to Stalin as a political and cultural figure in a wider sense.

The volume is based on the 2014 International CUA Conference on Endangered Languages, organized by the Caucasus University Association (CUA) at Ardahan University, Turkrey. Prof. Karina Vamling, Malmö University, contributes with an article on Megrelian.
Read more about the publication:http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/…/9789004328693;jse…

Senior lecturer Märta-Lisa Magnusson, Caucasus Studies (Malmö University) delivered key points and concluding remarks by at the Seminar on State and Society Building in Georgia: Context and Challenges in Copenhagen September 28.

Among the presenters were Dr. Anna Dolidze, Parliamentary Secretary of the President of Georgia, Prof. Daniel Tarschys, University of Stockholm and member of the Europe Foundation board, Erik Høeg (below to the left on the photo), Deputy Head of European Monitoring Mission (EUMM), David Lee, (to the right, below) President of Magticom and chairman of the board.

The conference Gelenek ve Gelecek. Türkiye Çerekeslerinin Günsel Sorunlari (Tradition and Future) was organized by Kafkas Dernekleri Federasyonu in Ankara on May 13. The second session focused on Circassian linguistic issues and how to teach Circassian and other minority languages in Turkey. This includes the development of study materials for the teaching of Circassian as an elective school subject (photo to the right).

The time in Ankara included a visit together with Muhittin Unal and Erol Taymaz to the head-quarters of the organisation Kafkas Dernekleri Federasyonu, that had recently moved to a new address in the picturesque old town.

The centre holds an impressive library with Circassian and other North Caucasian books on different topics and in many languages.